Young consumers’ preferences for water-saving wines: an experimental study

Freshwater scarcity is becoming one of the most pressing issues of the global environmental sustainability, and agriculture is the main responsible of that scarcity. During the last decade, there has been an increasing consumers’ environmental concern about the impact of food production on water usage. This paper investigates young consumers’ preferences towards water saving wines and the determinants of willingness to pay (WTP) for these products. Data were collected through an experimental auction mechanism in Italy by assessing young consumers’ willingness to pay for three different wines (i.e. conventional-no water saving label, water saving front-of-pack labelled and water saving back-of-pack labelled). Young consumers’ (N=200) characteristics related to their personal values, pro-environmental attitudes, wine habits, labeling attitudes and socio-demographics were also collected. Results reveal that on average young consumers are willing to pay higher prices for water saving labeled wines. Additionally, wine consumption frequency, label trust and use as well as consumers’ environmental-friendly attitude have a positive effect on willingness to pay for these wines. The current study offers valuable insights to policy makers and wine producers for product differentiation and for more efficiently targeting campaigns towards young consumers, in order to increase sustainability-labeled wine consumption

Corporate social responsibility: environmental concern in New Zealand's wine industry

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a worldwide issue as organizations are under increasing pressure to behave in socially responsible ways. Environmental responsibility as a part of CSR is often connected with sustainability and protection the environment. This is of a significant importance to New Zealand and its 'clean' and 'green' image. One industry having an impact on the environment, and also having a strategic position in the economy of New Zealand is the wine industry. The aim of the research is to understand what motivates and sustains companies' CSR practices. This exploratory study examines (1) what drives the industry to engage in CSR practices, (2) the role of stakeholders in the company's decision making, and (3) CSR practices in the wine industry. A qualitative research approach supplemented by quantitative measures was adopted to answer the research questions. 24 case study organizations (wineries) were studied and 31 managers interviewed. The research found that the most important drivers of CSR practices are personal values, preferences and satisfaction with this profession. This is followed by product quality and customers' demand. Though New Zealand wine companies are also driven by the market; the market still does not value CSR initiatives and companies do not receive a price premium for sustainable or organically grown grapes. Furthermore, environmental regulations belong to important drivers affecting companies' decision-making. However, companies do not consider current New Zealand's regulations as significantly difficult to follow. On the other hand, companies want to preempt future regulations. The research also revealed that the most important stakeholders are owners, shareholders, customers, wholesalers and international businesses. The role of communication and ecolabelling is also discussed. As a result, the study proposes a typology matrix that differentiates organizations' involvement in CSR according to the extent of CSR practices and their drivers. This study contributes to understanding of the New Zealand wine industry status in environmental CSR at the present, the extent of drivers of proactive environmentalism and companies' stakeholders, and the description of a typology matrix of companies engaging in CSR. This contribution is valuable for those interested in CSR, and the future of New Zealand's wine industry

How CS can be used for gaining info about consumers and the market?

This chapter addresses the issue of how consumer science can be used to gain information about consumers and the market by analyzing the concept of sustainability in the wine industry from a managerial perspective. It focuses on greenhouse gas emissions and considers the technological and economic feasibility of sustainable practices and market feedback about carbon claims. The first part of the chapter describes the outcomes of a market research survey undertaken by a sample of young wine consumers. The survey applied a choice experiment to measure the role carbon claims play in consumers' preferences. The second part of the chapter focuses on the managerial implications that arose from an analysis of a case study of a winery. It also describes the winery's participation in a project that sought to calculate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and implement new production and logistic practices. Finally, the economic implications and efforts required to meet consumers' demands for sustainability are discussed

Scotland’s Food and Drink Policy Discussion: Sustainability Issues in the Food Supply Chain

The purpose of the paper is two-fold. First, to identify the main sustainability issues that Scottish food supply chain actors are concerned with and any differences that exist between primary producers, processors and distributors and consumers; and second, to explore the implications of respondents’ views for the direction of food and drink policy in Scotland. The analysis was based on a dataset assembled from the written responses to the National Food Policy discussion in Scotland, which contains opinions on the different dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) from a broad range of individuals and organizations representing different segments of the Scottish population. The empirical analyses involved comparing the responses according to two criteria: by food supply chain stakeholder and by geographical region. The results indicated that whilst there were differences among the studied groups, the importance of social and economic sustainability were strongly evident in the foregoing analysis, highlighting issues such as diet and nutrition, the importance of local food, building sustainability on sound economic performance, the market power of supermarkets, and regulation and support in building human and technical capabilities

Understanding the relationship between green approach and marketing innovations tools in the wine sector

Over the last years, research about sustainability has been interesting due to growing importance of green orientation in the consumer purchasing process. In particular, in the wine industry producers’ environment-friendly behaviour, in terms of organic winemaking, agricultural waste recovery, efficient water use, can represent a high-powered chance to differentiate products and to face new market challenges. Understanding consumer expectations and new purchasing trends by means of marketing tools leads the wine producers to adopt green oriented innovations. Therefore, this research sought to investigate the relationship between marketing innovation tools and green firm approach. Structured online questionnaires were used to ascertain the views of 280 wineries in Apulia region, in South Italy, that has a very long history as a wine producer. Findings of this study indicate that wineries with marketing innovative tools seem to have a more eco-friendly approach, since the sustainability orientation can be considered a crucial issue in the framework of the new firm competitiveness challenges. Finally, implications shed some light on the importance of adopting suitable marketing and communication tools to address wineries towards sustainability based trends